Striping device



Oct. 11, 1932. R. z. HOPKINS ET AL STRIPING DEVICE Filed Feb. 4, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ii s ii s3 I ing guided b the reveal at the corners.

Patented Oct... ll, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RALPH Z. HOPKINS AND EARL SEGER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS TO HUDSON MOTOR CAR COMPANY, 013 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN STRIPIN G DEVICE Application filed I'ebruary 4, 1928. Serial No. 252,002.

This invention relates to a portable device or apparatus for and a method of striping automobile bodies, and more especially for striping the window reveals of such bodies.

An'object of the invention is to provide a device or apparatus of the foregoing character having a feed nozzle or pen rotatably mounted to adapt the device for use in striping uneven and curved surfaces and to permit the device to make a complete circuit around the Window reveal and apply thereto a continuous and even paint stripe while hea template or pattern. It has been extreme y ditficult for an operator working free hand to apply a continuous and even stripe to a window reveal, since it was necessary for the operator to remove the brush employed for this purpose from the surface of mits' the application of a continuous paint stripe to the reveal, since the device and method of stripin enables an operator to complete the circuit of the window reveal Evithout removing the device'from the surace.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device capable of being held and guided by one hand and having means controllable by the same hand for regulating the flow of fluid, such for example as paint, to the nozzle or pen of the device; it being a further object of the invention to provide a device capable of being readily assembled or disassembled for cleaning purposes. The above and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views, we have shown one form or embodiment of our invention.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is atop plan view of the striping device; 1

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the device of Fig. 2, with the device in reversed position from that in which it is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of one form of Our invention per template with which the striping device of my invention may be used.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55, Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows, and illustrating the method of using the device.

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a striped body panel.

Before explaining in detail the present invention and the method or mode of operation embodied therein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practised or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms of the several claims hereto appended or the requirements of the prior art.

Heretofore, it has been common practice in striping automobile bodies to employ a penlike brush and to apply the stripes by manual labor. In most instances the stripes were applied free hand and, regardless of the efficiency of the painter, it was extremely diflicult to produce even striping.

Moreover, the cost of such labor is excessive since the painters are much in demand and command relatively high wages. In fact in most instances the painters or stripers are paid on a piece-work basis and in these cases it is noticeable that the grade of work is greatly lowered due to the fact that is to the advantage of the stripcr to complete as many jobs per day as possible. It will be appreciated readily that all of the foregoing have greatly increased the production cost of automobile bodies and that the item of striping the bodies in accordance with the usual practice has reached a cost which is excessive.

We have discovered that with the device of our invention, the operation of striping the body is greatly speeded up and additionally, that the quality and appearance of the stripes is greatly improved. The manual application of a stripe to a body panel surrounding a window reveal has been an extremely tedious one but in accordance with our invention, the stripe can be applied more rapidly and accurately than heretofore.

Referring now tothedrawings, 10 represents as a whole the striping device or apparatus of our invention, comprising a body portion 11 having a rear extension v12 provided with a lon 'tudinal bore 13 internally screw threade at its rear end as shown at 14. The body portion is also provided with a depending handle 15, a forward threaded extension or nipple 16, and a rearwardly extending portion or nipple 16a. The main portion of the body is provided with a chamber or bore 17 and the nipple 16 with a bore 18 of relatively less diameter than that of the chamber 17. The nipple 16a has a relatively small longitudinal bore and a conical seat 16?) adapted to receive packing 160 which is maintained against the seat by a knurled nut orcap 16d. The upper end of the body comprises a reservoir 19 preferably formed integral with the body and provided with a diaphragm or partition wall 20 having one or more apertures 21 therein (Fig. 3). The reservoir is normally closed by means of a screw threaded cap 22 having a vent opening 23 therein.

The stripe applying portion or applicator of the device is preferably in the form of a rotatable nozzle or pen shown as a whole at 30 and comprises a substantially conical head or inner end 31 internally bored at 32 toreceive a core 33 which is preferably provided with an integral interiorly threaded hexagonal nut or extension 34. The core is preferably provided with an annular recess or groove 35 in its periphery which is adapted to receive a series of anti-friction ball or roller bearings 36. However, it must .be understood that any suitable mounting for the bearings may be employed. It will be observed, Fig. 3, that the parts 31,33, and the ball bearings 36 are maintained normally together in operative relation by means of a collar 37 which is threaded upon the inner .end of the member 31, and that when these parts are assembled, the conical head and collar 37 are free to rotate about the core 33 is a feed tube 40 having a conical inner end 41 which is adapted to seat in the core 33, this conical portion being provided with an annular rib or projection 42. It will be observed,

Fig. 3, that when the parts are assembled as therein shown, the hexagonal nut or extension 34 is threaded upon the nipple 16 and that the annular rib 42 of the feed tube is maintained in position between the end of the nipple 16 and the inner face or seat of the core 33. It will also be seen, that the feed tube extends through a longitudinal bore formed in the body of the pen and between the nibs 30a thereof toa point adjacent the tips or ends of said nibs. The feed tube and the core 33 are held against rotation by means of the hexagonal nut 34, but the conical head 31 carrying the nibs 30a etc., is free to rotate about the core 33. The purpose of providing the space or clearance 32 between the core and the inner face of the head 31 is to facilitate rotation of the parts.

It is, of course, desirable to regulate the flow of fluid such, for example, as the paint from the reservoir 19 to the feed tube 40 and nibs 30a. As disclosed in the drawings this is accomplished preferably by providing a needle valve comprising a stem having at one end a conical tip 50a. The stem 50 is provided with a fixed stop or abutment 51 at a point adjacent the rear nipple 16a, and with a second stop or abutment 52 normally positioned at a point adjacent the bore 13 of the rear body extension.

The rear extension 12 of the body is provided with an externally threaded adjusting sleeve or nut 54 having a knurled handle portion 55 and a longitudinal bore 56. To assemble the parts, the valve stem 50 is inserted through the bore 13 and through a hole formed in the cap 16d, and extends through the bore of the nipple 16a through the compartment. 17 and bore 18 of the nipple 16 and normally seats in the conical end 41 of the feed tube, as shown in Fig. 3. Thereafter, a coil spring 57 is slipped over the rear end of the stem 50 until its forward end engages the stopor abutment 52, whereupon the sleeve 54 isslipped over the end of the valve stem and. caused to engage the threads 14 of the rear body extension. By tightening the sleeve 54, it will be understood that the spring is contracted, thereby increasing the pressure upon the valve stem through its engagement with the stop 52, and forcing the conical tip 500 ofthe needle valve into engagement with its seat provided in the conical end 41 of the feed tube. Thus it will be seen that normally the valve is in engagement with its seat thus cutting oil the flow of fluid to the tube 40.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the device is provided with a valve actuating handle shown asa whole at 60. This handle is preferably mounted for pivotal movement upon the body portion 11 by means of a screw 61 and is provided with an offset portion 62 carrying a thumbpiece 63. It will, be observed that the offset portion and thumb piece lie in a plane substantially parallel to the 1011 itudinal axis of the body of the device so t at normally the thumb piece is substantially opposite the reservoir 19. The inner end of the handle beyond the screw is preferably provided with a hook-like portion 64 adapted to engage about the valve stem 50 at a point between the stop or abutment 51 and the cap 16d. Thus it will be seen that when the thumb piece 63 is moved toward the reservoir 19, the conical valve will be withdrawn from its seat, thus permitting the flow of fluid to the feed tube 40. By rotating the threaded sleeve 54, thereby varying the tension of the spring 57, the force which is required to be exerted upon the thumb piece 63 to move the valve, is varied, and it will be understood, of course, that the position of the valve relative to its seat regulates the amount of fluid allowed to flow to the pen.

It will be noted that the operating device 60 which controls the valve 50 may be actuated during the striping operation to increase or decrease the amount of paint applied to the body. This is important in enabling the amount of paint fed by gravity to the pen point to be increased or decreased in accordance with the speed in which the device is moved bythe operator over the body. Inasmuch as the operators thumb engages the part 63 during the striping operation, as he increases the speed in which the device is moved over the body, it is merely necessary to operate the valve 50 which will result in more paint being forced by gravity into the pen. Thus it will be seen that the device 60 provides means under the control of the operator for regulating the amount of paint being fed to the pen in proportion to thespeed in which the device is moved over the surface of thebody.

In Figs. 4 and 5, we have shown a template or pattern for guiding the device when striping a window frame or reveal. plate comprises a rectangular frame having preferably rounded or curved corners 71, together with an auxiliary or smaller rectangular frame 7 2, comprising horizontal parallel members 78 and vertical parallel members 74 connected together at their ends by diagonal strips 75. The vertical members 74 are interconnected by means of longitudinal bars or strips 76 which overlie the members 75. The frames 70 and 72 are normally maintained apart by means of a series of coil springs 83 (Fig. 5).

pair of vertical parallel bars 77, each having an aperture 77a therein are connected with the members 7 2 and 76 by means of rivets or the like 78. A corresponding swinging bar or member 7 9 of a length exceeding that of the bar 7 7 is provided for each of said last mentioned bars, each pair of bars being interconnected by means of a threaded bolt 80 secured to the bar 79 by nuts 81 and ex The tem-- tending through the aperture 77a. Pivotal ly mounted upon the free end of each bolt 80 is a cam member 82 including a handle for actuating it. When it is desired to ap-' ply the template to the window opening, the cam members 82 are in the out-of-use position as shown in Fig. 4, thus permitting the bars 7 9to be swung about the bolts 80 to the position in which they are shown in broken lines. The template is then moved into position against the outer face of the window frame, the bars 79 returned to a vertical position in parallelism with the bars 77 and the cam members moved from the position of Fig. 4 to the position in which they are shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the bars 79 and the frame 70 are drawn together and engage the inner and outer faces of the window frame, respectively, the resilient springs 83 serving to maintain the parts in fixed position.

As shown in Fig. 5, after the template has been thus adjusted, the operator grasps the striping device with one hand with his'thumb upon the button 63, and guides the device along the upper edge of the frame 7 0 to produce the desired stripe such, for example, as the stripes surrounding the window opening V of the panel P (Fig. 6). It will be understood that by varying the pressure upon the button 63 the amount of paint which flows from the reservoir to the feed tube is regulated.

7 After the stripe has been made throughout the length of the upper horizontal edge of the frame 70, the operator grasps the pen or nozzle 30 with the thumb and fore-finger of his free hand and rotates it. in an arc without removing the pen from the surface so that the stripe will be made in a line following the contour of the curved corner of the frame 70. It will be understood that the operator turns the pen at right angles to its original position after the curved corner 71 has been traversed, whereupon further movement of the device by the operators hand com pletes the stripe in a vertical direction at right angles to the first stripe section. This operation is followed until a complete cir cuit of the outer edge of the template frame 1 has been made.

If it is desired to apply merely a straight line, such as a stripe extending along a beading strip of an automobile body, or the like, a straight edge or other guiding member may be held in position by one hand of the operator and the striping device moved along the edge of said guiding member while being grasped in the other hand of the operator to apply the desired stripe.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided a portable manually controlled striping device capable of striping bodies and adapted particularly for use in striping curved and uneven surfaces, to-

gether with a method of striping the window reveals of a closed automobile body, which device and method reduce the time and labor heretofore required to effect the striping operation, to a minimum, thereby decreasing the cost of producing automobile bodies ma- 'terially.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A striping device, comprising a body portion having a. handle, a fluid reservoir carried by said body portion, a nozzle at one end of said body portion rotatable relatively to said body ortion and reservoir, and means also carried by the body portion for controlling the flow of fluid from the reservoir to said nozzle. 2. A striping device, comprising a body portion having a handle, a fluid reservoir carried by saidbody portion, a nozzle at one end of said body portion rotatable relatively to said body portion and fluidreservoir, and means including a valve and actuator for controlling the flow of fluid from the reservoir to said nozzle.

3. A striping device, comprising a body portion and a reservoir, a handle for said device, a feed tube extending forwardly from said body portion, and a pen detachably con nected with said body surrounding said feed tube and free to rotate thereabout.

body, said pen being adapted to rotate free-' ly around said tube, and means carried by said body portion for controlling the flow of fluid to said tube.

6. In a striping device, the combination with a body portion having a fluid reservoir and a handle, of a feed tube and pen de-' tachably connected with and projecting beyond one end of the body, said pen'being adapted to rotate freely around-said tube, and means carried by said body portion for regulating the flow of fluid to said tube.

7. A striping device comprising an elongated body portion having a handle and a longitudinal bore, a fluid reservoir carried by said body portion and in communication with said bore, a feed tube detachably connected with the forward end of the body portion, a rotatable striping pen surrounding said feed tube, a needle valve having a stem extending through the longitudinal bore adapted to normally seat in said feed tube to prevent the passage of fluid thereto, spring means for maintaining the valve against its seat, meanscarried by the body portion for varying the tension of said spring, and a handle pivotally mounted upon the .body portion and having a portion in engagement with the valve stem for operating the valve to regulate the flow of fluid from the reservoir to the feed tube.

8. A striping device comprising a body portion having a handle and an integral reservoir, an applicator detachablyconnected with the forward end of said body portion and including a feed tube and a coaxial rotatable pen surrounding the tube, and valve means for controlling the flow of fluid from the reservoir to said feed tube.

9. A striping device comprising an elongated body portion having-a handle and a longitudinal chamber, a fluid reservoircarried by said body portion and in communication with said chamber, a feed tube detachably connected with the forward end of the body portion, a rotatable striping pen surrounding said feed tube, a needle valve having a stem extending through the chamber adapted to normally engage the feed tube to prevent the passage of fluid thereto, spring means for maintaining the valve in such position, means threaded into the rear end of said body portion surrounding said valve stem for varying the tension of said spring, and an actuating handle movably connected with said body portion and engaging said valve stem for varying the position of the vave to regulate the flow of fluid to the feed tu e.

10. A striping device comprising an elongated body portion having a fluid chamber, a handle depending from said body portion at the forward end thereof, a reservoir integral with said body portion and positioned above said chamber, said reservoir being in communication with the chamber, a thread ed nipple formed upon the forward end of the body portion, a detachable feed tube having a valve seat engaging said nipple, a ball bearing rotor threadedlyconnected with said nipple and having a pen surrounding said feed tube, a valve engaging said valve seat and having a stem extending rearwardly through the bore of said body portion, a spring surrounding said valve stem adapted to normally maintain the valve in engagemerit with its seat, means threaded into the rear end of said body portion adapted to vary the tension of said spring, and an actuating handle pivotally mounted upon said body portion engaging said valve stem, whereby the position of the valve relative to its seat may be varied to regulate the flow of fluid to the feed tube.

11. An apparatus for striping automobile bodies, comprising a body ortion having a fluid chamber, a cylindrical paint reservoir positioned above said chamber, a perforat ed diapl'iragm separating said chamber and said reservoir, a rotor dctachably connected with said body and carrying a pen, a handle for supporting said apparatus disposed be low said chamber, and means for regulating the flow of paintto said pen.

12. An apparatus for striping automobile bodies, comprising a body portion having a rear extension and a fluid chamber formed at the forward end of said body, an integral fluid reservoir surmounting said body above said chamber, a perforated partition between said reservoir and said chamber, a rotary applicator having a valve seat therein detachably connected with the body adjacent and in communication with said chamber, a handle for supporting'the apparatus, a needle valve normally engaging said seat and hav ing a stem extending through the rear body extension, means carried by said extension for exerting pressure upon said stem to maintain said valve in engagement with its seat, and means carried by said body engaging said valve stem for regulating the flow of fluid to the applicator.

13. A striping gun comprising a head, pen blades extending outwardly irom said head, a supply tube discharging between the outer ends of the pen blades, a reservoir with which the tube communicates, means for swivelly connecting the head with the tube, a stock upon which the reservoir is mounted, a trigger operatively engaged with the stock, a valve for controlling the flow through the tube, means coacting with the trigger for moving the valve into open position, and means for normally maintaining the valve closed.

14. A striping gun comprising a rotatable head, pen blades extending outwardly from said head, and a valved supply tube disposed lengthwise between the pen blades and discharging between the outer ends of the blades.

15. A striping device comprising a body portion, a pen having spaced nibs, a feed tube extending between said nibs for supplying fluid to said pen, and a reservoir carried by said body portion at one side of the axis of said pen and feed tube and communicating with the latter, said pen being rotatable on said body portion about said axis.

16. A striping device comprising a. body portion, a pen having spaced nibs, a feed tube extending between said nibs for supplying fluid to said pen, a reservoir carried by said body portion at one side of the axis of said pen and feed tube and communicating with the latter, and a handle carried by said body portion at the opposite side of said axis from said reservoir, said pen being rotatable on said body portion about said axis.

17. A striping device comprising a body portion, a pen having spaced nibs, a feed tube extendingbctween said nibs for supplying fluid to said pen, a reservoir carried by sald body portion at one side of the axis of said pen and feed tube and communicating with the latter, said pen being rotatable on said body portion about said axis, and means for controlling the flowbf fluid from said reservoir through said feed tube to said pen.

18. A striping device comprising a body portion, a pen having spaced nibs, a feed tube extending between said nibs for supplying fluid to said pen, a reservoir carried by said body portion at one side of the axis of said pen and feed tube and communicating with the latter, a handle carried by said body portion at the opposite side of said axis, said pen being rotatable on said body portion about said axis, a valve for controlling the flow of fluid from said reservoir to said pen through said feed tube, and an actuator for said valve having a portion located adjacent said handle.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

RALPH Z. HOPKINS. EARL SEGER. 

